I was just a reporter, trying to stay ahead of my student loans. I knew the rules, and I followed them. I thought I knew how the world worked-humans lived their petty little lives in the safety of the sun. We loved and fought and-when the sun sank-we scurried behind our walls and lived in fear. That is when the monsters came out to play. And even in the safety of the sun, we knew who ruled us. The Houses. And their Scions. Everyone knows the great Houses and their Scions-they are feared and loved and hated and envied. They are the gods who walk the shadows and rule all of our lives. They are salvation and death. And somehow, I am one of them.